Contact bounce, or chatter, is a rapid current switching or flickering that may occur upon the closure of a mechanical switch or relay. It may occur when the electrical contacts in the switch have sufficient resilience, or springiness, that when they are brought into contact with one another they may rebound slightly, almost as if bouncing, before a steady constant contact is established. The result is an initial rapid current oscillation instead of the expected instantaneous transition from zero to full current. An exemplary plot showing an example of contact bounce as exhibited by a mechanical switch is shown in FIG. 1.
Although they do not possess mechanical switches, contactless connectors such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/427,576 (hereby incorporated by reference) may also suffer from rapid initial changes in signal strength as the connectors are brought into sufficient proximity to establish the desired wireless connection. Variations in electromagnetic field homogeneity, small changes in relative antenna orientations, and other factors may all contribute to such observed signal variations, which may compromise the initial stability of the connection.
What is needed is a contactless circuit connector that can prevent or compensate for such initial variations in signal strength, so as to ensure that even at the initial stages of establishing a contactless connection, the connection is nevertheless both robust and consistent.